Journey Through Worlds
by pillowrabbit
Summary: Pewdiepie, Marzia, Cry, Markiplier, and Yamimash journey through Amnesia, Bloody Trapland, a zombie apocalypse, and Slender as they try to find a way to get home.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Pewdie slowly opened his eyes and winced in pain. His head was throbbing. He slowly sat up from where he was lying on the floor and looked around in disbelief. Stone walls surrounded him, smelling of mold and moss and age. The floor was also made of stone, and a few chairs were stacked up in a corner. Pewdie gaped in shock. "What am I doing _here_?" He realized that he had somehow managed to teleport himself into the world of Amnesia.

He shakily climbed up to his feet and walked towards the door. He had to focus on getting out of here. The doorknob was rusty, and the door hinges creaked loudly in protest when he opened it. He paused, listening. No sound came from the other side. Slowly, one step at a time, he exited the room into a hallway that hung with paintings. The paint had flaked away and cracked, making the canvas look like a skeleton. He gulped and tiptoed past the hallway when he came across more doors. _This is a maze, _he thought. _How can I ever escape? _

A drawer was seated in a corner, and he opened it cautiously. It was empty. He sighed. Usually there was a laudanum bottle or two clinking inside. He stood up and reached for another door. This time, it was a bedroom. A large bed sagged next to a wooden closet. He opened the closet, expecting to find an item, but was disappointed again when it was empty. He walked across the floorboards and tried a different door. It was locked. He looked around, trying to see if he could find the key. He crouched down and looked under the mattress of the bed. There was nothing there except for cobwebs and dust that made him sneeze. He sighed again in despair. He was never going to get out of here.

Suddenly, he remembered the monsters. He began to move quieter to make sure they didn't hear him. He was painfully aware of the boards that creaked under his feet with every step he took, and darkness seemed to envelope the building. _I need a lamp, _he thought, as he walked into a room filled with shadows. He held his hands out in front of him as he blindly trudged down a staircase. The railing had been devoured and eaten away by age years ago, so he couldn't use that for support. Suddenly, he felt one of the steps collapse, and he let out a yell when he tumbled down the staircase. He fumbled for something to grab onto, but to no avail. He crashed from the stairs and landed on his face at the bottom. "Ow…" His nose was bleeding, and he was covered in bruises and scratches. Pewdie wearily sat up and rubbed his arms, trying to make the ache go away. He gingerly touched his nose and felt the blood run down his hand in a stream. He slowly got up and fumbled around. Since it was pitch-black, he couldn't see anything.

His foot hit something with a light echoing _plink. _He reached down to grab it. Running his hands across the smooth surface, he realized that it was a lamp. _Great. Now all I need to find is some tinderboxes…_

He stiffened when he heard a grunt. It sounded all too familiar, and the hairs at the back of his neck prickled. A monster was coming his way. He blindly stumbled across the dark room, trying to see where he could hide. He wasn't sure if the monsters could see in the dark, but he wasn't taking any chances. He ran into a few objects: a table, a chair, a desk, a drawer, when he finally came across a closet. Heaving a sigh of relief, he clambered inside and shut the doors with shaking hands. Inside the closet, he forced himself to stop shaking. He thought, _There's no way he'll find me in here._ He stiffened again when he heard the grunt. The monster padded closer, his feet thumping across the floor. Unlike Pewdie, he seemed to have no trouble maneuvering in the darkness. The creature snorted again and halted right in front of the closet.

Pewdie gulped.

The monster grunted, a wet, guttural sound, and continued to plod past. Soon, his footsteps faded. Pewdie let out a cry of relief and fumbled open the closet doors. Carrying the unlit lamp in his trembling hands, he carefully tiptoed across the room.

He eventually managed to find a few tinderboxes stacked up in a corner and eagerly lit up the lamp. It glowed with a warm light, illuminating his face and the farthest corners of the room. He cherished the yellow glow, and watched the flame dance in front of his eyes. _Alright, now I need to get back home. _He shone the lamp across the walls and came upon a wooden door riddled with cracks. The doorknob was missing, so he pried it open with his fingers. He came upon another hallway, and abruptly froze when he heard footsteps coming his way. The monster! But the footsteps sounded different; instead of plodding heavily, they were light and quick. Pewdie took a step back when a figure cautiously came into view in the lamplight. His eyes widened.

"C-Cry?"

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**Okay folks, that's the first chapter of my crappy fanfic. Now please excuse me while I go angst in my corner ;-;**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**I'm not really good at writing the horror genre. Well, I tried… ;A;**

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"Pewdie?!" the man in the mask exclaimed. "W-what are you doing here?"

Pewdie stared at Cry in surprise, his blue eyes opened wide. "Well…I'm not exactly sure how I got here," he replied. He looked at him hopefully. "Do you know a way out?"

Cry shook his head, and Pewdie felt his hopes being crushed.

Cry looked at his friend through the empty mask of his, and he noticed the many bruises and scratches that covered his sullen face. Blood crusted his nose. Cry exclaimed, "You're hurt! What'd you do, fall down a flight of stairs?" Even though he was anxious and uneasy, Pewdie managed to laugh weakly. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." He looked around the desolate and gloomy castle. "Well, we'd better continue looking for a way out of here."

The two friends began to poke through drawers, open closets, and unlock doors. They managed to find some more tinderboxes and a few laudanum bottles. Of the monster, there was no sign.

"Ugh." Cry reeled back when he accidently stepped in a bright crimson puddle. _Blood? _The puddle formed a scarlet trail before swerving and disappearing under a rusty iron door. He gulped, and crouched next to the door before placing an ear on its cool metal surface. There was nothing but silence on the other side. _Here goes nothing, _he thought. He gingerly touched the doorknob and slowly turned it, wincing when his fingers brushed against dried, crusted blood.

He peered inside. Shadows curled around the corners, and it was so dark that he couldn't see anything. "Pewds", he whispered. "Bring the lamp over." The light-haired man stepped over with the glowing amber and held it into the gaping maw of the shadowed room. The glow illuminated the corners, and what they saw made them reel back in horror.

"Oh, man…"

A pile of dead bodies lay in a heap in the middle of the room, their limbs entwined and their glassy eyes staring at them with blank expressions. They were smeared in blood, practically drowning in the bright scarlet puddle. Their skin was blue and blotchy, and a few large roaches crawled out of their mouths. The eyes stared up at them with their piercing glares. Cry shuddered and looked away, and said in a shaky voice, "W-well, let's keep looking in the other rooms."

He was beginning to back away from the lifeless bodies, when he suddenly froze. Footsteps were coming their way, loud, plodding footsteps that echoed around the castle with every step. Pewdie's eyes widened as they desperately tried to find a place to hide.

The footsteps grew closer. Something grunted and wheezed.

Cry hissed, "There's no time! Quick, let's hide here!" He grasped his friend's arm and hurriedly dragged him back into the room with the dead bodies. Pewdie stifled a groan of disgust when he was shoved onto the rotting pile.

Cry quickly closed the iron door, careful not to make any noise. He looked at the lamp. "We have to put the lamp out, otherwise he'll see us." Pewdie reluctantly snuffed the flame out. Immediatley, the room was plunged into a suffocating darkness.

He could hear and feel Cry settling down next to him, shuddering in the bloody nest of corpses.

The monster was trudging closer.

Footsteps, loud and echoing.

The thing grunted and snorted and seemed to be grumbling to itself. Abruptly, it stopped just outside the door and paused. Silence.

Pewdie held his breath, and he could feel Cry shivering. The corpses seemed to be clutching his feet and entwining their limbs with his. He trembled when he felt their cold, clammy skin against his. He put his hand down, and immediately felt something wet and damp against his fingers, as if he had reached into someone's mouth. He retracted his arm with a small gasp.

The monster outside stiffened. Cry sucked in his breath, and Pewdie could feel his eyes gazing into his in the darkness, a look of panic and fear.

The room was filled with a stifling silence, as if waiting for something to happen.

Pewdie could feel the monster slowly reaching out one of his mutated fingers and grasping the doorknob.

_No, _he thought, his heart pounding in his ears. Cry stiffened next to him.

He could feel the monster slowly begin to turn the rusty knob.

He could feel it turning, centimeter by centimeter, and he could see the door open just a crack.

He gulped.

Suddenly, before he could think or respond, Cry jumped up to his feet and grabbed Pewdie's arm. He winced in the iron grip.

The door flew open and the monster howled in rage when it saw the intruders.

Pewdie's breath caught in his throat as Cry dragged them both out of the pile. The masked man was charging now, and with a yell, he rammed the monster at the side of its head with the lantern. The monster bellowed in rage, and Pewdie ducked when one arm reached out to claw him. Cry dragged him out of the blundering creature's wrath and hurried him down a random hallway.

Their footsteps pattered down the cold stone floor, and their breath came in shallow gasps. Pewdie looked up at the brown-haired man, his eyes bulging in shock. Cry looked at him with an apologetic smile and panted, "Sorry, Pewds. My mind just snapped, and I wasn't sure what I was doing."

They rounded a corner and stopped running when they couldn't hear the creature blundering behind them. Pewdie sank down onto the ground with a relieved sigh. He murmured. "For a second there, I thought we were gonna get killed." "For a second there, so did I," his friend replied.

After resting for a bit, they relit the lantern with one of the tinderboxes and slowly began to continue on their way.

Pewdie looked at Cry as they walked. The castle didn't seem as dreary and despondent anymore with a friend around.

The walls were illuminated with a soft yellow glow from the lantern. The stone floor echoed and bounced off the walls with each step they took.

Pewdie gazed around and peered into corners, trying to see if they could find a clue. Suddenly, he gasped.

Cry spun around, ready to run if he needed to. "Wha-?"

"STEPHANO, I FOUND YOU!" the Swede shrieked in joy as he cradled the golden statue in his arms.

Cry chuckled to himself in amusement. His friend was pretty immature at times. He picked up the flickering lamp and continued on his way.

Pretty soon, they came upon an open window.

Cry looked out. The wind whistled in his ears and ruffled his chestnut-brown hair, and he breathed in the smell of leaves and autumn. However, his chest tightened when he realized that the ground was a long way down. If they tried to jump, they'd only end up killing themselves. He sighed. "Wait, maybe we could tie some bedsheets together and make it into a rope. We could climb down on it," Pewdie suggested. Cry smiled. "Pewds, that's a great idea." Hurriedly, they opened various doors, trying to find some beds.

After finding enough bedsheets, Cry nimbly tied them together. Pewdie gently set Stephano down on the floor and knelt down to fasten the makeshift ladder securely onto one of the bedposts. Then he tossed the end of it out of the window. It was long enough so that it touched the bottom of the endless forest. Cry nodded at him. "You can go first."

Pewdie nodded back, and knelt down in front of the golden figure of Stephano and said, "I'll miss you buddy," while Cry jokingly rolled his eyes. "Come on, it's just a statue," the masked man said.

The Swede then got up, and giving the rope a few firm tugs to make sure that it was tied securely to the bedpost, grabbed the bedsheets with both hands and carefully lowered himself out the window.

He gasped. He was so high up. The trees looked like little tiny pinpricks of ants at this height. He began to feel dizzy, and tightly wrapped his limbs around the makeshift rope.

"Pewdie, are you okay?" his friend called out from above. Despite himself, Pewdie smiled reassuringly and replied, "Don't worry about it, Cry, I'll be fine."

For some reason, Cry shivered when he said that, as if something terrible was going to happen indeed.

Carefully, Pewdie lowered himself down, inch by inch, foot by foot. He tried not to look down, and let out a small gasp when he felt a strong wind shake him. The rope trembled, and for a moment he thought it would give way and he would plunge down onto the earth below. But it stayed, and he heaved a sigh of relief. After a long time, he looked up, and saw Cry staring down at him from the window. He had climbed a long distance by now, so the blank mask gazing at him was only a tiny dot in the distance. Pewds grinned and give him a thumbs-up sign to show that he was alright. The tiny dot grinned back and then disappeared into the castle.

He returned his attention back to the task at hand. He had successfully lowered himself halfway down the castle, but he still had a lot of distance to cover.

The sun was setting, painting the sky with warm colors. He would have enjoyed the view if he wasn't dangling a few hundred feet from the ground, his palms sweating and his fear of heights escalating.

_Come on, you can do it, _he thought. He gritted his teeth, and continued to climb down.

Cry stared anxiously back down at his friend. Pewdie was a long way down now, but he still hadn't managed to reach the ground yet.

The masked man drummed his slender fingers against the window sill. At this rate, it would take all night.

Something creaked.

He eyed the bed post warily. The bedsheets were tied to it, but now, it groaned under the weight it was enduring. _C-crack…_

His eyes grew wide. The bedpost was cracking! If it managed to break apart completely, the ladder would topple to the ground, along with Pewds. He scrambled to his feet and tried with all his might to prevent it from happening. He grabbed the bedsheets with both hands and attempted to keep it from slipping. However, he wasn't that strong, and he gazed in horror when it slithered from his hands.

It slid out of the window and disappeared. _No, _he thought in despair. He dashed to the window and looked down. "Pewdie!" he hollered into the darkening air.

Pewds felt the ladder give way under him, and before he knew it, he was dropping to the ground. He gazed up at the evening sky, his life flashing before his eyes. He saw Cry lean out of the window with wide, scared eyes.

Pewdie was falling, falling, with nothing but the ground below to capture him, and he let out a yell when he realized that this was the end.

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**Nope, this isn't the end of the of the story. I'll be updating soon. Please review? :3**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Cry covered his face in his hands and collapsed onto the floor. "No…Pewdie…he's dead…"

He felt a steady stream of tears slowly drip down his chin, and he buried his face in his arms. "Maybe if I had been more careful…this wouldn't have happened." He curled up into a ball on the floor and sobbed quietly. _Pewdie, _he thought sadly. There was no way he could have survived the fall.

He struggled over to the open window and looked down. The forest branches waved at him below. His hands tightened on the window sill. Now that his friend was dead, it seemed that he would die alone in this godforsaken castle. He imagined himself wandering the dreary halls, pacing back and forth for all eternity, waiting for death to finally find him.

Wouldn't it be better to just end this nightmare already? For a second, he was tempted to throw himself over the edge of the window and down into the depths below.

Something shiny in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Stephano.

The tiny statue was seated on the floor where Pewdie had left him, unmoving and unblinking. Even though dust and cobwebs had caked him through years of sitting in the lonely castle, his blank eyes were still shiny and golden. _Stephano, _Cry thought. He slowly shifted from his position and crouched down to pick the statue up. He brushed off some of the dust and grime and stared at his reflection in the cool metal. A blank white mask stared back at him, with a thin line for a mouth. Under the mask, he knew that he would see himself, his hazel eyes tinted red from his tears and his mouth quivering. He hugged Stephano tightly to his chest. The golden statue was the only connection he had left of Pewdie now.

"I guess it's just you and me, Stephano."

A grim determination swept over him, and he opened the creaky door. One way or another, he would try to find a way out of the castle. He would fight for his life every step of the way, and he wouldn't give up until the very end. _For Pewdie, _he thought. _And for me._

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Felix winced when he realized that he had landed on something. Prickly spikes poked his back, and his limbs ached from the impact. His eyes were wide with shock, and he felt dizzy from dropping from such a height.

He had landed on the intersecting branches of a few pine trees, and they had broken his fall.

He tried to flex his fingers and adjust his position. Nothing seemed to be broken, although every part of his body ached. He slowly got up to a sitting position on the branches and looked back up at the window in the castle. _Cry, _he thought. _He's probably worried about me. _For a moment he wondered if he should go back into the castle to retrieve his friend, but immediately decided against it. He would only get lost in the halls if he tried, and then all this would have been for nothing.

He clenched his bruised knuckles. _But I can't just leave him in there! _

"Cry!" he called up through the darkening air. "Can you hear me?" There was no reply.

He looked around nervously. He was stranded in the middle of a vast pine forest, and night was settling in quickly. He looked up again at the open window of the tall castle. Finally, he made up his mind and stood up. _I'll go find help, and then come back to save you, _he promised in his mind. There was nothing else he could do. He looked down at the ground. The pine tree he was standing on wasn't that tall, and he was able to safely climb down.

Rubbing his bruised back, Pewdie began to wander aimlessly through the maze-like woods.

The sun was long gone by now, but by the light of the cold moon, he was able to see some of the features of the trees. Strangely, the forest seemed familiar. _How come I have the feeling that I've been here before? _he wondered nervously.

An owl hooted ominously, and a chilly wind wrapped its arms around him and held him tight. Felix shivered. He was wearing a t-shirt, so the cold gripped him easily.

Leaves crunched underfoot. He stared up at the pitch black night sky and shuddered. The forest seemed so intimidating as the trees towered above him. Pewdie quickly spun around when he heard something behind him. The shadows made it hard to see anything, but a large bulky figure stepped out, and it slowly lurched towards him…

The shadow of a figure lumbered with halting steps. He was immediately reminded of a bear, and he quickly froze. He pictured himself being torn from limb to limb with huge, furry claws, his life bleeding scarlet onto the autumn leaves. He could scarcely breathe.

Suddenly, the bulky figure tripped on something and landed with a loud crash onto the ground. Startled, Pewdie jumped.

The shadow scrambled up again and muttered, "Stupid woods…"

Since when did bears talk? Felix blinked. Could it be another person?

He started to walk towards it, when suddenly it shouted, "Who's there?" He froze. The voice sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

"…Markiplier?" he asked.

There was a pause.

And then the shadow said, "Pewdiepie? That you?"

Through the light of the moon, the two men squinted at eachother. The moonlight glinted at Mark's glasses, and Felix realized that it wasn't a bear at all. He hurled himself at the man in glee. "Markiplier! I'm so glad you're here! I managed to escape, but Cry's still trapped in there, and—"

"Woah, slow down," Mark chuckled. "Tell me everything that happened."

So Felix told him everything, and after he finished, he looked around and asked, "So, do you know how you got here?" Mark sighed. "Nope. I guess I somehow randomly teleported out here." Pewdie shrugged. "That doesn't matter right now. We need to rescue Cry." Markiplier gazed at the tall pines. He murmured quietly, "I'd love to do that, Pewdie, but right now, we're in a lot of trouble ourselves." The Swede looked confused. "What do you mean?" Mark looked at Felix and said, "Well…do you have the feeling that you've seen this forest before?" Pewdie blinked. "Yeah…" Markiplier adjusted his glasses and sighed, "Pewdie, I think we're trapped in Slender." "WHAT?" Felix gaped in shock. He had scarcely managed to get out of Amnesia alive, and now he was stuck in _this?! _

A single autumn leaf blew through the chilly night air, and as he turned his head, he could clearly see the outline of a tall silhouette standing farther back among the trees, its blank white face gazing silently out at the two men.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

**I don't know if I should continue this fanfic…if you want me to, just let me know. And sorry if the people act a little OOC…**

Cry shivered and rubbed his arms. The air in the building was getting steadily colder. Goosebumps prickled on his skin.

Eventually, he found a lit fireplace in a corner. He set Stephano and the lantern down next to him and sat down. The warmth seeped through his bones and he felt the shivering gradually subside. _I'll just rest here for a bit, _he decided.

His mind began to wander to thoughts about Pewdie, but he quickly broke away. _No, don't think about him. _

But still, he felt fresh tears well up in his eyes. Pewdie…

Felix had always told him not to worry, to just take one step forward at a time and keep the path in front of him visible.

"_Don't worry about it, Cry," _the voice echoed in his mind, and he could almost see the Swede grinning down at him.

He choked back a sob and watched the flickering firelight dance before his eyes.

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The next thing Cry knew, he was lying on the floor in darkness. The fire in the fireplace was reduced to nothing but faintly glowing embers and ashes. He slowly sat up. _I must have fallen asleep…_

The lantern had burned out as well, but luckily, he had spare tinderboxes at hand. He lit it and watched the light quickly spread across the room. He stretched, and yawned.

Cry groggily climbed to his feet and picked up Stephano and the lamp. He continued to wander through the hallways like a sleepwalking ghost, stumbling carelessly into drawers and cupboards every now and then. He was beginning to give up all hope of ever coming out of the castle alive. The man sighed.

Something suddenly caught his attention. The low, gurgling noise of a monster echoed along a corridor, along with another voice. It sounded desperate and frightened, and he was sure that he heard that voice somewhere before. The memories in his mind were fuzzy.

He quietly tiptoed over to the corridor and listened intently. The grunt of the monster, its heavy, plodding footsteps…and the sound of a girl screaming.

There was someone else in the castle besides him!

Moving eagerly, he stepped closer, and sucked in his breath. He walked closer still…

…and was nearly bowled over as a girl crashed into him. Through the tangled, light brown locks, he could recognize a face.

"Marzia?" he asked in disbelief.

The girl focused her pale blue eyes to his, wide with shock. A grunt from the monster sounded nearby, and she quickly got to her feet.

"Cry, run!" she urged, as the Servant Grunt lurched from the shadows.

The two sprinted down the halls and through the empty rooms, the lantern swinging wildly from Cry's hand as it cast long shadows across the walls. The monster strode after them at an insanely fast pace, gurgling all the while.

The man felt a hot breath at his neck, and he swore that he could feel something swiping at his ankles.

Grabbing Marzia's hand, he rounded a corner and dragged her into a closet.

He shut the door, and they stood in silence, breathing fast and deeply. He snuffed out the lantern in case the monster could see the light, and they were quickly enveloped in pitch darkness.

Beyond the wooden door, they could feel the Grunt's presence. Its tiny, beady eyes swiveled across the room and scanned it. Its steps were slow and ponderous, shuffling slowly across one place to the next. It grunted.

Cry forced his rapid breathing to relax and hugged Stephano close to his chest. Marzia was covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide.

The silence was deafening. It pounded in Cryaotic's ears until he felt that he would burst. Any second now, he was sure that he would scream.

The monster outside shifted its position. It slowly trotted over to the direction of the closet. Marzia inhaled a sharp breath.

The mutated creature passed over to the other room, and its footsteps faded down the corridor.

After a long while, no one said anything.

Then, with trembling hands, Cry slid the door open, and the two tumbled out, gasping with shock and fright.

Marzia untangled the hair from her face and managed to smile shakily. "C-Cry," she choked softly.

The man nodded briskly, and was aware that the girl was bleeding from a gash in her arm. "Hold on," he said, and he tore a strip of cloth from his shirt.

Gently, he held her arm and wrapped the makeshift bandage around the wound. He was aware of how pale her skin was, and she was trembling.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded.

She forced herself to let out a shaky laugh. "I-I'm fine. I didn't know I'd run into you here."

Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Is Pewds here too?" She looked around, as if expecting him to walk in at any moment.

Cry was at a loss for words. Pewdie is dead, he wanted to say, but he just didn't have the heart.

Without answering her question, he lit up the lantern with the remaining tinderbox he had left. "Do you know how you got here?" he asked. Marzia shook her head. "No…"

The two of them sat in front of the candlelight in an awkward silence, unsure of what to say next. The shadows flickered on the walls and danced like small ghosts.

All was quiet. Cry lowered his head, his thoughts on Pewdie again.

Marzia relaxed ever so slightly. She looked at Cry and gently laid a small hand on his shoulder. He looked up, startled.

She said, "Listen, Cry, we're going to get out of here alive. I know we are. I promise." Cry didn't say anything, but he managed to nod slightly.

The two of them huddled together next to the lamp, shivering at the dampness of the floor, the darkness of the walls, and the despair lingering in the air. They waited for morning to come.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Sunlight filtered through the branches of the trees, and Markiplier reluctantly opened his eyes. He was lying next to the foot of a pine tree, and Pewdie had fallen asleep nearby.

He squinted up at the sun and tried to recollect his thoughts. In the back of his mind, he hazily remembered wandering the forest with Felix in the hopes of finding the castle and saving Cry. Somewhere along the way, they must have gotten lost and kept stumbling into trees in the pitch darkness.

There was a kink in his neck and he rubbed it. He adjusted his glasses and slowly got to his feet, dusting off the leaves that clung to his jeans.

Pewdie shifted from where he slept but didn't wake up.

Mark looked around. Pine trees spread out far into the distance, and the air was thick with their spicy scent. It looked a lot more peaceful in the daytime. However, he noticed something queer: no birds flitted from branch to branch, and the skies were absent from their songs. The squirrels had also vanished, along with the beetles and the tiny living things that scurried underneath the leaf litter.

For no reason at all, he felt the back of his neck prickle. This was a bad place, especially if Slenderman was nearby. He gently nudged Pewdie.

The Swede mumbled something and his eyes fluttered open. For a moment, they were blank and unfocused, but then he quickly bolted and sat upright. He looked around wildly and his chest heaved.

"Pewdie! Pewdie, are you alright?" Mark cried.

After realizing that he was in the pine forest, Felix took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "Y-yeah," he stammered nervously. "I had a nightmare, that's all."

He got up on trembling legs. "So, we'd better find that castle."

Mark nodded.

The two of them journeyed slowly through the woods. The air was unnervingly quiet, and even the crisping of the fallen leaves underfoot seemed somewhat muted and muffled.

After wandering aimlessly for half an hour, they came across a path. It snaked through the trees, winding far across the distance. It was smooth and flat, and not a blemish dented it. A sign poked out of the ground.

Mark had to squint his eyes in order to read the words, for the paint had cracked and flaked off long ago. Vines wound around the sign like withered brown snakes. He read, "Don't stray from the path."

He looked at Pewdie. "Do you think we should follow it?" There wasn't much else they could do. If this was their only path to freedom, then he was eager to walk it.

Felix shuffled his feet nervously and mumbled half-heartedly, "Sure. Why not."

Markiplier placed a large hand on the Swede's shoulder and said encouragingly, "It's okay. We'll be home soon."

But his voice faltered at the end, and even he wasn't sure if what he said was true.

Together, they followed the snaking path that wound all across the forest, past the pine trees and fallen leaves.

A tall figure stalked them from the shadows. Tall and lanky, it had no eyes, no mouth, though it peered at the two men intently. It followed them all the while, quietly hiding among the safety of the shadows.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Marzia had been unable to sleep, so she kept watch until the first rays of morning crept through the tiny openings in the walls.

The lamp's flame had long sizzled out, but luckily, the sun had risen soon after.

Cry was slumped on the damp ground next to her, snoring softly. She got up and looked around. The castle was still enveloped in shadows, but a small window let in a sliver of sun.

A long time ago, she remembered reading somewhere that if you stood too long in the dark, your sanity would slowly drain. She had to make sure that didn't happen to her.

Something rustled, and she realized that Cry had woken up. The masked man was sitting up and groggily rubbing his eyes. He sighed. "Well, we'd better continue our search on finding a way out of here."

He got up and led the way through the halls with Marzia following close behind. He cradled Stephano under one arm and carried the lantern in the other. Since all of the tinderboxes had been used up, it was unlit. The shadows seemed deafening, and even though it was daytime, the place was still as dark as midnight.

Marzia was beginning to feel uneasy. Their footsteps were too loud, and they echoed around the entire building. Even though she didn't hear any monsters she could still feel their presence all around her.

Luckily, a large crack in the wall filtered in some sunlight, and they paused to rest in the faint brightness.

She was beginning to feel faint and feverish.

Cry looked worried. "Um, Marzia, are you alright? You don't look too good."

She laughed nervously. "No, it's alright. I just didn't get any sleep last night."

After resting, they continued on their way. They turned the doorknobs and rattled on the doors, but it didn't lead them anywhere.

The girl felt out of breath. She placed a hand on her forehead and was surprised to see that it felt a little bit warmer than usual.

_I can't be sick, _she thought.

She shivered. The cold was getting to her.

Cry was walking a few paces ahead, and she tried to run to catch up to him.

Her foot suddenly caught on a rock and she fell. As her hands flew out, she heard her head let out an echoing crack on the pavement.

"Marzia!" Cry yelled.

He rushed over to where she lay and desperately shook her. "Hey! Can you hear me?"

She forced herself to sit up and squinted up at the mask. "I…I don't feel good…" she murmured.

Cry felt her forehead. "You're burning up!"

A thin stream of blood trickled down from a scrape on her brow. Her eyes fluttered shut and she murmured something quietly.

The man quickly tore open the bandage on her arm. His eyes widened. The wound on her arm was sickly and crusted, and it oozed an ugly red color. "Oh no, you've got an infection. What do I do?" He looked around desperately, trying to see if he could find anything that could help.

_The laudanum! _he thought.

He quickly scrambled to his feet. "Wait here, Marzia!" he called over his shoulder. "I'm going to find some laudanum."

Through her blurred vision, the girl was able to watch him as he rounded a corner and disappeared. Her head felt heavy and stuffed, and her gaze traveled down to her hands. They were bloodied and scraped from when she tried to break her fall. Her vision began to grow dim, and she found it hard to stay awake. The shadows engulfed her, and she passed out.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Cry stumbled as the hallways grew dimmer and dimmer. The shadows seemed to flicker and dance as if they were alive, and they hissed and wound around him, trying to pull him back. He pressed on and hurriedly rummaged through drawers. There was no laudanum. His desperation was increasing.

His footsteps became more frantic and he sucked in his breath. The blackness became agonizing.

He continued to search. He opened closets, looked under beds, threw the doors open and peered on the tables. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

_Come on! It has to be here somewhere! _he screamed in his mind.

All at once, the darkness became too overwhelming. It weighted down his shoulders and blinded him, and shrieked silently in his ears.

The man suddenly stumbled and fell, and the shades pressed into him and held him down.

In the back of his mind, he remembered that if he stayed in the dark for too long, it would drain his insanity. He cursed. How could he have forgotten?

He groped in the darkness and shuffled slowly to his feet. The shadows were screaming. They hollered in his ears and attempted to perforate his eardrums. It stuffed his head and his thoughts became slower and muffled.

He covered his ears in a desperate attempt to block it out.

Pitch black surrounded him. _No, I can't give in. _He fought desperately and slowly put one foot forward. He concentrated all of his thoughts on walking.

Bright lights danced before his eyes and mottled his vision.

_One step forward, _he urged himself. _One foot in front of the other. Keep walking._

One step.

Two steps.

Three.

He faltered. He couldn't see anything at all, nothing but black. Something scurried in between his feet and he nearly fell. However, he caught himself just in time.

Cry knew that if he tripped and fell, he might never get back up again.

The shadows wailed. He could feel his sanity slipping.

_Oh no. Here come the hallucinations, _the man thought.

Lights danced before his eyes. Out of a corner, he thought he saw a lantern, dripping with brightness and warmth. He turned to look at it, but it was gone.

Ghostly figures appeared, but he knew that they were only tricks of his mind, and tried to ignore them.

However, one of them caught his attention. His brown eyes widened in disbelief. _Pewdie? _

He reached out a hand at the figure, but just before he touched it, it vanished. Cry reeled back, and banged his pulsing forehead against the wall. His sanity was dwindling. _No…I have to carry on…_

He groped forward and felt the smoothness of a drawer. In sheer desperation, he fumbled for the knob and opened it.

He heard a sharp clink. A laudanum bottle rolled to a stop at his feet.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Marzia drifted in and out of consciousness. Once, she thought she heard Pewdie calling her name, but then realized that it was only her imagination. _Cry…where are you._

For a moment she was worried that he had been caught by one of the monsters, but exhaustion kept her from dwelling on the thought.

She shivered. She could barely keep her eyes open.

"M-marzia…" a small voice echoed from the shadowed part of the corridor.

She listened. Was it Cry?

The masked man stumbled into view. He kept lurching into the walls, and it was a long time before he finally collapsed in front of Marzia.

Her eyes grew wide. "Cry…?" she asked questioningly.

A laundanum bottle rolled out of his hand, and he sat up to look at her. There was a strange, crooked smile etched on his face, and he giggled like a madman.

"My…sanity…is gone…" he managed to say.

His eyes flew open wide.

"All gone," he giggled. "Rainbows…and unicorns…are we in Candyland?"

He began to sing a song in a screechy and dreadfully off-key rhythm, before he passed out on Marzia's lap.

He murmured softly, "…I thought I was lying in a field of flowers…"

Tears suddenly welled up in Marzia's eyes, and she hugged him with all her might.

She whispered, "Oh, Cry. You went through all this trouble for me."

"Thank you so much."

**Okay, here's the tenth chapter. Btw, is that how you're supposed to act when you have low sanity? You start to hallucinate and mumble about random things…**


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

It seemed that Markiplier and Pewdie had been walking on the road for hours. The sun warmed their backs and made them sleepy.

Mark sighed wearily. When was this road going to end?

Felix suddenly collapsed onto the ground. He shifted and moaned, "I'm hungry…"

Mark said, "I know. I'm hungry too. Just bear with it until we get home, alright?"

Pewdie sighed, and slowly heaved himself to his feet. They continued walking, at a slower pace.

Their stomachs growled.

Mark's knees were weak, and he felt light-headed. When was the last time they last ate, anyways? Yesterday? Yesterday morning? He had lost track of the hours.

Pewdie suddenly gasped, "Oh, hey, look! Mushrooms!"

The mushrooms were scattered all around the trunk of a tree. It was growing off of the glowing green moss, and was speckled with numerous red dots.

Felix immediately bent down and began collecting them.

Mark said, "Um, I don't think that's a good idea…"

He paused when he realized that Felix was already beginning to eat them.

The Swede turned. "You want some?" he asked, and held one towards Markiplier.

"You shouldn't eat them. They could be poisonous."

Even so, he gazed longingly at the mushrooms. His stomach rumbled and he actually began to salivate.

He quickly tore his gaze away. _No, _he thought. _I can't._

Felix, on the other hand, shoved all of them into his mouth. "They taste delicious," he said, his voice muffled by the food. He swallowed. "Aw, don't worry so much," he told Mark. "I'm pretty sure they're edible."

With renewed energy, he began to continue up the path, jogging all the while.

Markiplier trudged lifelessly behind him. He began to have second-thoughts on Pewdie eating the mushrooms, but it was too late, anyways. Felix had eaten them all.

He waited nervously for the side-effects to appear. Would Pewdie start vomiting? Would he become paralyzed? What if he suddenly keeled over and died? What would he do then?

Mark anxiously shook the thoughts away. Felix was fine, he reasoned. The Swede was still running joyfully in front of him with his renewed strength. He looked healthy enough. There was a possibility that the mushrooms were perfectly harmless.

Markiplier's stomach growled furiously, scolding him for not eating the mushrooms when he had the chance. He began to fantasize about food, about hamburgers and milkshakes, sausages and ham. His mouth watered.

He could almost taste the salty sweetness of it all as it tantalized his taste buds.

Mark suddenly jolted out of his imagination when Pewdie gave a shout.

Felix cried, "Slenderman! He's right behind you!"

"WHAT?"

Mark nearly jumped out of his skin. Without wasting a second, he grabbed Felix's arm and ran, dragging him behind him.

He almost tripped, but still, he kept sprinting as fast as he could go.

It was only when he realized that nothing was chasing them that he stopped to glance back.

There was nothing there, only the silent, ever moving trees.

He gazed at Pewdie with a confused look. "I thought you said Slenderman was right behind me."

Pewdie said in a dazed voice, "Of course…he was…" His voice trailed off.

It was only then that Mark noticed something strange about Felix.

The Swede was staggering back and forth, as if his legs couldn't support his own weight, and his normally blue eyes were red and glazed over. He gave a crooked grin at Mark.

Mark blinked. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Pewdie giggled like a madman and didn't answer. He suddenly collapsed onto Mark's shoulder and whispered, "It's funny…I thought I was surrounded by a field of flowers." He hiccupped.

The mushrooms, Markiplier realized. They must have done something to Pewdie's mind.

Since the Swede couldn't walk anymore, Mark had to carry him. He fastened him onto his back with his strong arms, and even though he nearly doubled over with the weight, he started to trot up the path.

"Hang on, Pewds," he said. "I think we're almost there."

_Please don't die, Pewdie, _he thought anxiously.

Felix suddenly laughed in his intoxicated state, and giggled, "Ronald McDonald is here!"

"Uh…yeah…" Mark replied. _I'm so glad I didn't eat those mushrooms, _he thought.

They trudged on for what seemed like hours. Mark's feet ached, and his knees quivered with exhaustion.

Finally, at the end of the pathway, there was a house. The shingles on the roof were mostly torn off, and the faded curtains were tattered and eaten away by age. The paint was stripped off. Moss covered the rusty door and oozed down the cracked windows.

But it was a house nevertheless, and that meant shelter for the night.

Mark felt a spark of hope in his heart. He eagerly dashed up to the doorstep and yelled, "Hello? Is anyone home?"

There was no answer. Was it his imagination, or did he hear the staircase inside give a slight, hesitant squeak?

He cautiously knocked on the door, and recoiled when the hinges shattered and the door collapsed onto the floor.

He peered inside. The place was in ruins, with the furniture worn out and the wallpaper entirely stripped away. Millions of broken shards littered the splintered wooden floor. It seemed that no one had lived here for a long time.

Mark went over and gently lay Pewdie down on a dilapidated sofa in the corner.

Felix eyed the room warily. His eyes were still red and glazed over, and they looked disoriented. He blinked at Mark. "Where's Marzia? And Edgar, and Maya?" he asked.

Mark wearily said, "They're not here. Just try to get some sleep, alright?"

Pewdie nodded, and then smiled crookedly. He gave a big, wolfish grin and laughed.

He eyed a broken lamp on a desk and reached for it. The man hugged it close to his chest. "A rainbow Pegasus," he cooed softly. "I'll name you Rainbow Dash, and I'll love you forever."

Despite of himself, Mark chuckled quietly. Pewdie looked so comical, hugging a lamp.

_How long until the mushroom's effects wear out? _he wondered.

He left Pewdie on the sofa and explored the various rooms of the house.

They were filled with dry dust, and spiders and dust bunnies lurked in the darkest corners.

There were paintings on the walls, too. They were mostly faded, but he could still make it what they depicted. The paintings were most peculiar. There was one with a pine forest, and what looked like the shape of a giant turtle was scrawled on it. There was another painting with a cat. It had the most enormous smile, and its unblinking yellow eyes stared uneasily at Mark. For some reason, he shivered.

The air in the room became colder. Was a door open, somewhere?

Cobwebs draped the windows, in replace for the curtains. The floorboards were loose and creaked with every step he took.

A staircase.

It descended to the top level of the house.

Hesitantly, he placed one foot on the first step. And then another, and another. He counted the steps as he went up.

One…two…three…four…five…six…

Something scuttled between his feet. What it was, he wasn't sure. A spider, perhaps?

seven…eight…nine…ten…

Ten steps on the staircase.

Mark looked at his surroundings. It looked pretty ordinary. Nothing was particularly striking…

Except for the paintings.

He could have sworn he saw a similar painting a little while ago. Only now, there was something different about it, something about it that he couldn't quite place…

The air in the room shifted. He shivered again, and decided it was best for him to go down and check on Pewdie.

Was his mind playing tricks on him, or did the room suddenly become darker?

It was as if a giant hand had snuffed out the sun.

The whole house was entirely enveloped in darkness. He could barely even see his hands in front of him. Mark was afraid.

He hurriedly stepped down the stairs, and counted the steps.

One…two…three…four…five…

The staircase moaned under his feet. It coughed and sputtered like an old beast, weary and slow with age.

six…seven…eight. He reached the last step. That was strange, he realized. Weren't there supposed to be ten steps?

The house became steadily darker. He couldn't see anything in front of him, only the blackness.

"Pewdie!" he called. "You there?"

There was no reply.

Suddenly, the stairs creaked behind him. Someone was coming down.

He choked out, "Pewdie? Is that you?"

Mark felt a mysterious and strange presence right in front of him.

It was tall and thin, and its many arms reached out and circled its form. It glowed with a moonlight.

Mark backed away, his eyes wide.

Slenderman watched him, its eyeless gaze boring into him.

Mark felt the hairs at the back of his neck prick up.

The creature craned its neck forward, looking him up and down. It slowly reached out one of the tentacles protruding from its back and touched Mark's cheek.

It felt cold and damp, dark and unmoving. It was the touch of death. Mark clenched his teeth together. _I'm going to die, _he thought. His mind briefly ran over the memories he had, all of the people he knew and would likely never see again.

The Slenderman curled its tentacle around his neck, tightly, but not tightly enough. It was cold, freezing cold. The tentacle belonged to a pale creature that was neither living nor dead, that didn't have a heartbeat or a pulse and could easily crush the life out of Mark as easily as it could crush an ant underfoot.

Mark sucked in his breath. He closed his eyes as the tentacle tightened firmly around his neck.

He tried to remember all of the people he knew.

_Goodbye, _he thought.


End file.
